Research Supports Yoga for Longevity: How to Get Started

There’s aging and then there’s healthy aging. For the first category of people, getting older comes with chronic pain or cognitive decline. The second group experiences good physical health and mental clarity as their age increases. Research suggests that when individuals want to grow older in the best health possible—and live the longest life possible—yoga may help.

Life Expectancy by the Numbers

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that the average life expectancy in the U.S. in 2021 was 76.1 years of age. (1) CDC data also reveals that women tend to live longer than men. Women have an average longevity of 79.1 years versus 73.2 years for their male counterparts, a difference of almost six years.

These numbers represent a decline in longevity compared to years before. The CDC largely credits this reduction in life span to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, accidents, drug overdoses, and chronic disease have all played a role as well. 

Certainly, some of these factors are out of our control, such as the spread of a deadly virus. Others are within our ability to positively influence, and research indicates that one way to potentially impact them from this vantage point is with a yoga practice.

What Research Says About Yoga for Longevity

In March of 2023, The Harvard Gazette shared research that suggests that yoga may improve longevity. (2) The research referenced was a review of 33 studies that each looked at yoga and recorded its effects. In total, 2,384 participants over the age of 65 were included. 

After considering all the findings, researchers reported that practicing yoga improved subjects’ walking speed. It also increased their ability to stand from a chair. According to the researchers, both of these factors have been linked with increased longevity.

Other studies support the use of yoga to increase life span in additional ways. One example is a 2021 article published in Advances in Geriatric Medicine and Research. (3) These researchers indicate that yoga positively influences several factors relative to aging. This includes:

• Cellular aging

• Mobility and balance

• Mental health

• Cognitive function

A 2017 study promotes yoga for preventing and managing lifestyle diseases. (4) These diseases include those which affect cardiovascular health, like heart disease. They also include conditions that impact metabolic wellness, such as type 2 diabetes. Both categories of illnesses can reduce longevity by also lowering overall health. 

Additional Health Benefits Associated with Yoga

Increasing longevity is a great reason to do yoga poses. But a regular practice offers other health benefits as well.

Physically, yoga helps build muscle strength in the entire body. Some poses increase strength in the upper or lower body. Others work best for strengthening the core. Yoga also increases flexibility by helping to release muscle tightness. That makes it a good practice for people with tight hip flexors or tension in other areas of the body.

Mentally, yoga helps reduce stress levels. When stress builds, we can have a harder time dealing with life’s normal ups and downs. Our patience becomes shorter, and we tend to take our stress out on people we love. Yoga helps ease that stress. It also benefits our mental health in the form of reduced feelings of depression and anxiety.

There are spiritual benefits of yoga as well. While you can do yoga without spirituality, some feel that this practice helps them connect with a higher power. They feel closer to a higher being and are more one with the universe.

How to Develop a Yoga Practice That Helps Elongate Your Life

You can’t do yoga once and expect it to extend your life. Instead, this ancient practice needs to be a regular part of our lives if it is to have this much of an effect. But how do you create a yoga practice that offers the health benefit of increased longevity?

Step 1: Commit to Doing Yoga Regularly

You don’t have to do yoga every day, but you can if you want to. If you make it a daily practice, vary the styles of yoga you do. This gives the body a chance to recover by not doing the same pose sequence from one day to the next. Also vary the level of physical activity performed, such as by alternating between a faster-paced Power yoga class and a more quiet practice, like Yin yoga. If you don’t do it every day, at least commit to doing yoga three times per week.

Step 2: Understand Your Body and Its Limitations

People have different levels of flexibility. Understanding your or your client’s flexibility limits is critical to enjoying yoga. (Fact: You don’t have to be flexible to be a yoga teacher.) Knowing your physical limitations is also key to avoiding injury. Do poses that provide a good stretch, but not to the point of pain. Using bolsters and other yoga props can help people with physical limitations. They also make certain poses feel more comfortable to perform.

Step 3: Don’t Forget to Breathe

Some of yoga’s power lies in it being a meditative practice. Meditation helps keep us in the here and now. This reduces our stress while increasing our bodily awareness, both of which can help add to our longevity. Mindful breathing helps us be fully present during a yoga session. Other breathing exercises provide additional effects, such as helping us relax or giving us more energy. 

Other Ways to Increase Longevity

Certainly, yoga isn’t the only action we can take to live a longer life. Additional ways to have as many birthdays as possible include:

• Avoid chronic stress. This helps reduce our risk of high blood pressure. It also lowers our stress, which reduces internal inflammation. When you feel your heart rate increase due to your circumstances, take a walk, listen to music, or find another way to relax. 

• Practice meditation. Yoga has a meditation component. But you can also meditate outside of a yoga class. Find a quiet place to sit and pay attention to your breaths. Let all your thoughts go and notice how you feel mentally and physically, without judgment. While sitting in silence might feel different at first, you may soon find that you look forward to the peace and tranquility of your meditation sessions.

• Get regular exercise. In addition to doing yoga, add other forms of exercise to your workout routine. Do cardio to help improve heart health and maintain a healthy weight during aging. Engage in strength training to avoid the muscle decline that often comes with age.

• Eat a healthy diet. Consuming nutrient-dense foods helps give our bodies the vitamins and minerals they need to age healthfully. The National Institute on Aging provides several helpful eating tips for older adults. They include consuming foods from all food groups and getting enough protein each day. Getting enough vitamin B12 is also important for aging, as is reducing sodium intake.

• Avoid habits that contribute to disease versus health. This includes smoking, drinking to excess, and doing drugs. Quit these habits if you have them. Preferably, replace them with positive health habits instead. For instance, instead of smoking to relieve stress, exercise to get rid of tension. Choose healthier outlets for the issues you face.

Next Step: Help Others Live Longer with a Dedicated Yoga Practice

If you want to help others enjoy the longest life possible, you can do so by helping them develop a regular yoga practice. This is the role of a yoga teacher and teacher training can provide the education and skills needed to fill this position. 

ISSA Yoga & Wellness Academy offers a 200-hour Yoga Certification course that teaches you how to create and lead an effective yoga class. This course is approved by the Yoga Alliance and is a good next step in forging a career in health and fitness.

References

1. Life expectancy in the U.S. dropped for the second year in a row in 2021. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, August 31). https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2022/20220831.htm 

2. Strong evidence that yoga protects against frailty in older adults. Harvard Gazette. (2023, March 14). https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/03/strong-evidence-that-yoga-protects-against-frailty-in-older-adults/ 

3. Madhivanan P, Krupp K, Waechter R, Shidhaye R. Yoga for Healthy Aging: Science or Hype? Adv Geriatr Med Res. 2021;3(3):e210016. doi: 10.20900/agmr20210016. Epub 2021 Jul 13. PMID: 34368806; PMCID: PMC8341166.

4. Bhavanani, A. (2017). Role of yoga in prevention and management of Lifestyle Disorders. Yoga Mimamsa, 49(2), 42. https://doi.org/10.4103/ym.ym_14_17